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Livestrong surges; Armstrong drops Tour wins on Twitter

All the negative attention surrounding Lance Armstrong's cycling career and the stripping of his seven Tour de France titles has turned into a positive cash flow for Livestrong, the cancer-fighting foundation.

Despite all the negative attention recently surrounding its founder, the Lance Armstrong Foundation is reporting positive cash flow and participation compared to last year.

The foundation, otherwise known as Livestrong, said Tuesday that its donations have doubled in recent weeks, though much of the increase can be attributed to its 15th anniversary celebration last weekend in Austin, Texas. Armstrong attended the events amid a torrent of recent fallout from his cycling career, including the loss of all of his major sponsors last week. On Tuesday, Armstrong even changed the bio on Twitter account, removing a reference to his seven wins in the Tour de France.

It's also noteworthy considering that Armstrong announced he was stepping down as chairman of the foundation on Oct. 17. At the time, he cited the distractions surrounding his cycling career.

Since August, when the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency announced it would ban Armstrong for life and strip his Tour titles, the number of people turning to Livestrong for financial, emotional and practical services has risen by nearly 15%, according to the charity.

Over the same period, the dollar amount of donations has increased by about 8% from the previous year, up to about $3.4 million.

A prominent charity watchdog says Livestrong "has been the exception to the rule" that charities suffer when their founders or leaders are disgraced.

"It's such an odd situation," says Ken Berger of Charity Navigator. "There are enough people really committed to Livestrong and have come to see it separate from what's going on with Lance. I would predict they are going to survive but are going to stagger a bit."

Such positive figures suggest that the foundation has successfully distinguished its mission from its founder's woes.

Even Armstrong made somewhat of a separation this week. Previously, Armstrong had defied USADA's sanctions, saying in August, "Yes, I won the Tour de France seven times." The bio on his Twitter account also previously said he was a "7-time Tour de France winner."

But that all changed in the past two days. He removed that reference from his Twitter bio after the International Cycling Union (UCI) announced Monday that it would not appeal USADA's sanctions on his behalf.

The cyclist has denied doping charges for more than a decade, saying as recently as June that he has never doped.

Many of his sponsors also took him at his word until recently, when USADA released a damning evidence file against him on Oct. 10. It included sworn statements from 11 former teammates and 15 other witnesses that portrayed him as the leader and enforcer of a long-running team doping conspiracy that used banned drugs and blood transfusions to gain an edge.

Many witnesses also testified that Armstrong used intimidation and coercion to get other cyclists to dope as a way of guaranteeing their silence.